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CARSON, Calif. -- LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena told reporters on Friday that center back Omar Gonzalez is "unlikely" to play against Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

The center back has not participated in outdoor training with the team since Tuesday when he spoke to the media for the first time since returning from his stint with the U.S. National Team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. During his interview, Gonzalez stated that he needed to be "smart" with the ankle injury that he suffered in the second half of their Round of 16 defeat to Belgium last week.

After stating that Gonzalez is "unlikely to play" against RSL, Arena reiterated that he had confidence in LA's center back tandem of Tommy Meyer and A.J. DeLaGarza.

"There's no rush. He hasn't been here for two months so there's no point," said Arena. "Our [defenders] have been doing fine."

CARSON, Calif. – LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena told reporters that “it was in everyone’s best interest” that Brazilian forward Samuel returned to Brazilian Serie A club Fluminense.

The Galaxy announced on Thursday that the club had terminated the loan of the 23-year-old who scored just a single goal in 10 appearances across all competitions for the Galaxy. Samuel is likely to receive considerable minutes upon returning to the Brazilian giants with incumbent starter Fred likely angling for a move after his stint with Selecao at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“It’s a good move for him. [Fluminense] had an interest in him coming back and we thought that it was an appropriate time to do that,” said Arena on Friday after the club's training session ahead of their match against Real Salt Lake on Saturday. “He was a player that got better , but our style of play and our league is different and this was a new experience so it would have taken some time. At the same time, since the loan arrangement was only for one year, it would have taken him a year to make a [full] adjustment.

“At this point, it was probably in everyone’s best interest that he returned to Fluminense,” Arena added before mentioning that he was not surprised that the forward’s transition took as long as it did. “He was a really good guy who got better and we liked him. We’re sorry that it didn’t work out as quickly as we’d want, but it is not surprising. Sometimes the transitions can be quicker, but sometimes they take a little bit longer.”

With Samuel gone, the Galaxy boss said that the club is looking to make a move as they seek to contend for a fifth MLS Cup title.

“We’re looking to make an addition to our team at some point,” said Arena. “We do anything that we can to make our team better.”

There are just two games left in the 2014 FIFA World Cup with the action culminating on Sunday with the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina.

Ahead of the World Cup final and the third place game between Brazil and The Netherlands, check out ESPN FC's video of all the 167 goals scored in the tournament. If just five goals are scored in the last two games, the 2014 FIFA World Cup will set a tournament record for most goals scored.

It was 15 years ago today that the United States last became World Cup champions when the U.S. Women's team defeated China in an epic penalty kick shootout in front of more than 90,000 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena.

Over the course of 120 minutes, the match was more akin to one played on a chess board which both sides having limited chances. The match then went to penalties where goalkeeper Brianna Scurry made a clutch save in the third round that put the Americans ahead, setting the table for Brandi Chastain who buried her attempt in the fifth round to send the U.S. into bedlam. The iconic image of Chastain pulling off her shirt and revealing her sports bra would become an iconic American sports image.

Being a life-long resident of the San Gabriel Valley, I remember watching the match at age 12 from a nearby Mexican restaurant when Chastain buried her penalty, you could clearly hear the roar of the Rose Bowl crowd in the distance.

CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy announced the termination of the loan of Brazilian forward Samuel on Thursday.

Samuel heads back to Fluminense after making just eight league appearances for the Galaxy. The Brazilian forward scored just one goal in CONCACAF Champions League play as he helped LA to their 1-0 victory over Club Tijuana in the CCL Quarterfinals match-up on March 12.

The U.S. U-20’s begin the tournament on July 14 against Chile at 4:00 p.m. PT on the StubHub Center’s Mooch Myernck field before taking on Bermuda two days later at 4:00 p.m. PT at the same location and concluding the tournament with a 7:00 p.m. PT match against Australia on the StubHub Center stadium field on July 18.

CARSON, Calif. – There is no timetable for the return of injured LA Galaxy outside backs Todd Dunivant and James Riley, but the pair is moving forward in their rehabilitation.

Both players have been sidelined since April with Riley undergoing knee surgery while Dunivant has been sidelined with an abdominal tear that later required surgery of its own. In recent days, the pair has been spotted running on the sidelines while their teammates train, but following training on Tuesday, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena stated that both players are nearing a return to training.

“[Dunivant] is making good progress. He will probably get back on the field next week,” said Arena. “Meanwhile [Riley] will get back on the field soon. He is doing very well.”

For Dunivant, The recovery has been a difficult one as he was forced to undergo surgery after his abdominal tear did not show signs of healing. Following the surgery, which took place early last month, Dunivant was confined to five weeks of rest that prevented him from working out with the team and made sleeping, laughing, and even talking loudly a chore.

“Having to sit around do nothing, I have never experienced anything like that. If you want to talk about torture for an athlete that is it—not being able to do anything,” said Dunivant. “You can sit around talk to the guys, but you can’t ride a bike, and can’t do anything. From that side of it, it was hard. But having the world cup break kind of helped, and we haven’t had many games at almost the third of the season, so we still have plenty of soccer to be played.”

Dunivant is being eased back into action by participating in extensive fitness protocol that will allow him to build up his game strength before he ever touches a ball. A method that the left back hopes will allow him to return to action injury free.

“We will start building that up and eventually we will be doing ball work,” said Dunivant. “Obviously, at some point getting some games with [LA Galaxy II] and go from there. It’s good, that’s what we have, and another huge benefit of that team is to help the guys like me out. It’s exciting.”

Ethan Zubak and Rey Ortiz each tallied a brace while Dylan Smith rounded out the scoring in the come-from-behind victory. Zubak scored twice in the first half to put LA ahead, but Vardar clawed their way back into the game and took the lead with three goals at the start of the second half before goals by Ortiz and Smith sealed the win for the Galaxy U-16's.

LA will now participate in the Developmental Academy Finals Week which will be held at StubHub Center at July 17-19.

"It was a fantastic result for the boys because they've worked for 11 months for this moment," Galaxy U-16 head coach Mike Munoz told LA Galaxy Insider. "We knew that Vardar was going to be extremely difficult and they're a team that never gifts up. We lost ourselves for the first 20 minutes of the second half and were punished, but credit to my guys because they found a way to fight back from that. I'm really happy with the way that things turned out, but at the same time, we're going to have to be better going forward."

While there may still be things to work on, Munoz is confident that his Under-16 team can compete for a title during Finals Week.

"It's not easy to get here to be the one of the final four teams in the country," said Munoz. "This is an achievement in itself, but one of our goals is to be national champions and there are still two matches to get there. It's so far so good but we've got another week of training to prepare us and then we need to get after it."